Friday, December 7, 2012

Inert
Ordnance and Grenades Etc. –
We continue to find inerthand grenades and
other weaponry on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an itemlooks like a realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc.,
it is prohibited - real or not. When these items are found at a checkpoint or
in checked baggage, they can cause significant delays. I know they are cool
novelty items, but it is best not to take them on a plane. Read here
and here on
why inert items cause problems.

AT-4
Rocket Launcher – This
bring back memories. I had a few of these in the back of my HMMWV in Desert
Storm when it caught fire! Talk about lighting a fire under your seat… This
particular AT-4 at Latrobe (LBE) was expended, but it was an eye-opener for our
officers to say the least. It was discovered in checked baggage.

A
perfume bottle in the shape of a grenade was discovered at Houston (IAH).

Items
in the Strangest Places
–It’s important to check your bags prior to traveling. If a prohibited item is
discovered in your bag, you could be cited and possibly arrested by local law
enforcement. Here are a few examples from this week where prohibited items were
found in strange places.

An
8” knife was detected under the lining of a carry-on bag at Newark (EWR).

A
razorblade was detected in a sock at Newark (EWR).

An
8” knife was detected in a cane at Baltimore (BWI).

What
Not to Say at an Airport – Statements
like these not only delay the people who said them but can also inconvenience
many other passengers if the checkpoint or terminal has to be evacuated:

A
Newark (EWR) passenger told the gate agent: “If you don’t want another
terrorist attack, I better make this flight.”

During
a bag search at Boise (BOI), a passenger stated: “I might have a bomb in my
bag.”

During
a bag search at Dallas (DAL), a passenger stated: “I’m a terrorist.”

Unfortunately
these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why we talk about
these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our officers are
finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item, the
throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent ends up
with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. This is a friendly reminder
to please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on
an individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had
these items.

Yes, some people are very dumb, but to be on the safe side, never carry these items, if kind of legal, checked bagage but never handcarry. In Korea at the base exchange they sold canes with swords inside, they were discovered at sometime, but I wonder how many people returned them to the store for an exchange. Never carry any weapons unless you are law enforcement, and there are proper procedures to notify security, never any odd or possible weapon inside your hand carry baggage, that is unless you want to be arrested. Just keep the dumb things at home, period.

Bob S said... Yes, some people are very dumb, but to be on the safe side, never carry these items, if kind of legal, checked bagage but never handcarry. In Korea at the base exchange they sold canes with swords inside, they were discovered at sometime, but I wonder how many people returned them to the store for an exchange. Never carry any weapons unless you are law enforcement, and there are proper procedures to notify security, never any odd or possible weapon inside your hand carry baggage, that is unless you want to be arrested. Just keep the dumb things at home, period.

December 8, 2012 3:13 AM...........................

Almost all of us carry potential weapons.

Any kind of power cord, cable,shoelace,or such makes a fine garrote.

Have a writing instrument? Perfect for a good stabbing. The old cheap Bic's are perfect for that task.

Want to bludgeon a person? The edge of a laptop will fill the bill.

There are many other things in the typical persons belongings that are easy to use as a weapon. So what is TSA going to do, prohibit everything?

When I was in Guadalcanal last year on a tour, others were buying WWII relics to take home like very rusted bayonets & ammunition etc. I was tempted but didn't want the hassle of figuring out whether they were legal to bring back or not. It's not so easy as at home to just call up UPS and ship these things. How about some sort program where you could declare any items you think might be even slightly questionable, like the grenade shaped perfume bottle, so they could be hand-inspected & either allowed in checked baggage or provide a representative from a shipping service that would take it right there?

big Whoopity Doo they found guns and such last time I read our US constitution we have the right to keep and bear arms. If you really want to brag tie these weapons to a terrorist not a citizen who beleives in the constitution.with aright to travel our land without having to show his or her papers. You really want to brag, tell us how we have the right to protect ourselves without government intervention. Wow it really feel safe when an unarmed TSA officer is there to protect me! Gee thanks FEDS! The best thing you could possibly do for our protection would be to get out of our lives.

Hey Bob,Keep up the good work! Some people will criticize no matter what.How about adding an "Arrested Y/N" column to your weekly gun summary? I for one would like to know if these people were actually arrested or "Allowed to rebook" after trying to sneak a gun (Oh yeah, I believe the "I forgot" defense) onto a plane.

Why do you congratulate yourselves so much on finding guns? Isn't that the bare minimum job requirement of a screener? That seems like the equivalent of a fast food restaurant getting my order correct.

It looks like all of these items were found with pre 9/11 screening measures. Why do we need the expensive and not as effective body scanners that have health and privacy issues?

Keep up the good work! Some people will criticize no matter what.How about adding an "Arrested Y/N" column to your weekly gun summary?

Because nobody cares. If there were a danger to aviation from the presence of guns on planes, the danger would have manifested itself through the use of one of the 70% of guns that do get through the checkpoint.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for keeping us safe from all of the inert, replica weapons some moron forgot to take out of his/her bag before heading out to the airport. In the meantime, can you remind us how many dangerous iPads has TSA protected us from?

I watched the Youtube video that was posted in these comments. Why was the photographer harrassed by the TSA? I thought your policy allowed photography, yet I see so many videos where the TSA workers are telling the person filming the opposite.

If the TSA cannot train their workers that photography is allowed, how can we trust them with aviation security? What other procedures are they doing wrong if they can't get their simple photography rules right?

Will those who disagree with our standard practice of screening please respond with an acceptable alternative screening procedure that will maintain or improve upon current security standards? What is prohibited on a plane, what is allowed, who can take a loaded weapon on a plane and who can't, and how to tell the difference between the two passengers?

You have a right to do just about anything you want in your home or on the street.You ARE NOT required to allow anyone to look in your bags, scan your body, or pat you down. Only if you want to fly. There are many travel alternatives to flying available who those find our screening practices unacceptable. Passengers agree to abide our to screening procedures BEFORE entering security.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the flying public realize that we do a needed, if unpopular, service. We will continue to screen as we are trained and realize and take pride in the impact we have in making air travel as safe as we can.

John and Mary: My job sometimes requires travel to Bethel, Alaska. If you can give me some ideas on how to get there without air travel in a reasonable manner (i.e., a dog sled over the Alaska Range is *not* reasonable), I will concede your point. Keep in mind, there are no roads, no trains, nor for much of the year, any water access to Bethel, so no, I cannot "just drive, take a bus, take a train, or take a ferry." If not, then please refrain from requiring me to sacrifice my 4th Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable searches without probable cause to perform my job functions.

As for how to provide security...as others have mentioned several times already, pretty much everything that Blogger Bob is crowing about here could be found by a metal detector -- no groping and no nudie scan required.

John and Mary said... Will those who disagree with our standard practice of screening please respond with an acceptable alternative screening procedure that will maintain or improve upon current security standards? What is prohibited on a plane, what is allowed, who can take a loaded weapon on a plane and who can't, and how to tell the difference between the two passengers?

----------------------------

I say we go back to pre-9/11 screening with the addition of hardened cockpit doors. 9/11 wasn't a failure of the screeners. Boxcutters were a permitted item that day. Passengers will no longer be compliant with hijackers so the combination of that and the hardened cockpit doors means that type of attack will no longer work.

Metal detectors and explosive trace detection is all that is needed. If the TSA questions that a bottle of water is not filled with water, they have tests they can run on that.

If terrorism is such a constant threat, wouldn't the TSA have caught at least one terrorist by now? Instead, they treat every passenger like a terrorist, even though none of us are. People shouldn't have to have their genitals touched to get on a plane unless there is some serious probable cause to do so.

John and Mary said...Will those who disagree with our standard practice of screening please respond with an acceptable alternative screening procedure that will maintain or improve upon current security standards?

This has been asked and answered numerous times before. Usually as part of the strawman argument "if U don't like the TSA, then lets have NO security!!1!"

A return to pre-TSA security would be fine. Metal detectors for passengers, X-rays for carry-ons. Stop the knives, stop the guns from getting on the plane.

No nudie-scans.No gropings.No separating people from their belongings so they can be stolen.No making mothers taste their own breast milk.No handing pliers to women to remove their nipple piercings.No spilling peoples colostomy bags.No putting hands in little kids pants.(and, yes, all these have happened)

Basically.... pre September 11 levels of security will be more safe than the TSA ever will be.

Oh, but what about 9-11 you are going to say.... nothing the TSA does now would have prevented 9-11, and will not prevent another 9-11.

The airlines hardened the cockpit doors which when combined with a plane full of passengers willing to beat the crap out of anyone trying to take over the plan makes air travel more safe than TSA could ever hope.

Defunding TSA would save the taxpayer over 8 billion a year so that is an improvement.

Removing TSA and its violations of the Constitution is an improvement.

John and Mary said..."You ARE NOT required to allow anyone to look in your bags, scan your body, or pat you down. Only if you want to fly. There are many travel alternatives to flying available who those find our screening practices unacceptable. Passengers agree to abide our to screening procedures BEFORE entering security.".................................................................

Can you tell me what I am agreeing to abide by when I enter security? Oh that's right, I'm not entitled to know. And these other alternatives that you suggest - why aren't those targeted on a regular basis? Hard to believe I can be safe without some stranger sticking their hands in my pants.

An expended AT-4 launcher is an empty tube. How is it a threat? Did you not say it was also in checked baggage?

Likewise an inert grenade is no more of a weapon than a similarly sized rock. Are rocks prohibited in carry-on bags (I never even thought about that.)

Of the many firearms confiscated, how many were being deliberately smuggled onboard, vs. accidently left in a carry-on bag by otherwise law-abiding citizens? Catching an innocent person making a mistake is far, far different from thwarting an attempted hijacking or terrorist act. Funny how we never seem to hear the whole story.

I support the _idea_ of TSA and understand the complex nature of the terrorist threat and the challenges inherent in defending against it. But TSA celebrating catching innocent people making mistakes or simply being ignorant doesn't exactly enhance public trust and confidence in your organization.

[i]Will those who disagree with our standard practice of screening please respond with an acceptable alternative screening procedure that will maintain or improve upon current security standards?[i]

Metal detector with shoes and light outerwear on, X rays for belongings, laptop inside the bag, no liquid madness. No ID, whole body imagers, rub downs, hands in pants and SPOT. Do it just like security abroad, where planes don´t fall out of the sky (and actually fly over and into the US with no problem whatsoever).

"Will those who disagree with our standard practice of screening please respond with an acceptable alternative screening procedure that will maintain or improve upon current security standards? What is prohibited on a plane, what is allowed, who can take a loaded weapon on a plane and who can't, and how to tell the difference between the two passengers?"

WTMD-only, no shoe carnival, no belt carnival, no liquids farce, no naked body scanners except as an optional secondary screening method for those who alarm the WTMD or have metal implants, etc. and choose a scanner over a wanding and limited area pat-down.

Everything except firearms, large knives, and explosives is allowed on planes.

Retraining for each and every screener in politeness, manners, and hygeine, preferably by personnel from any of the dozens of other countries that do airport security well, which is to say, unlike TSA.

I have no idea who the two passengers between whom you can't tell the difference are, but that's your problem, not mine.

John and Mary said..."You ARE NOT required to allow anyone to look in your bags, scan your body, or pat you down. Only if you want to fly. There are many travel alternatives to flying available who those find our screening practices unacceptable."

"Transit authorities in cities across the country are quietly installing microphone-enabled surveillance systems on public buses.....The systems are being installed in San Francisco, Baltimore, and other cities with funding from the Department of Homeland Security..."

I think the TSA folks are doing a great job! I find it disturbing to read the negative comments on this blog in favor of people trying to bring guns, fake grenades etc on a passenger plane. How STUPID can people be?? and to try to hide stuff, again how STUPID can people be? Whenever i have flown, i never had problems with any of the TSA folks, and i am so glad we have them to go through stupid peoples' bags. Because i will tell you, there will be a time when something that you think is innocent will not be.

"Shortly after leaving MPD, Garcia landed at the federal TSA. A spokeswoman declined to comment about Garcia but sent a statement from the agency: "[Garcia] fully disclosed the charge on his application. As part of a full background check, TSA determined the charge had been dropped and therefore did not violate any hiring qualifications."

----------------So, as to your "So AFSD in Miami is an ex-cop fired for soliciting sex."

I guess someone shouldn't be hired because a charge against them was dropped?

I don't buy a bit of this baloney. It IS security theater, and the stuff in these pictures is just a dog and pony show. Note that no-where are we going to find out exactly where and how these weapons were confiscated and under what circumstances. This whole story is made-up and I view the TSA as no better than the DPRK at making propoganda. I don't fly because of the TSA, and that's cost the airlines tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

I don't buy a bit of this baloney. It IS security theater, and the stuff in these pictures is just a dog and pony show. Note that no-where are we going to find out exactly where and how these weapons were confiscated and under what circumstances. This whole story is made-up and I view the TSA as no better than the DPRK at making propoganda.

I was not allowed to have water for my 3 year old on the line going to the screening, which took one hour. The guy in front of me was drinking. TSA employees are incomptent and love the power they are given. I did not want to arguee because I just wanted to go home, but it's really frustrating.

So how many terrorism attempts did the TSA prevent in say... the last three years?

This article title is clearly designed to make it look like the TSA has contributed something... like reducing the threat from firearms in... checked baggage? a passenger wouldn't even be able to get to those. These are rather misleading statistics.

I'm terrified to think what harm could be caused by a belt buckle or perfume bottle. I guess being hit with a belt would hurt or something.

I think the missile tube should have been allowed to remain in the checked bag once it was seen to be just an empty tube. But I can also see where these tubes would be problematic as they usually have propellent residue that would likely trigger chemical detectors. There are a few issues with grenades worth considering. If you think inert grenades should be allowed on aircraft, please answer this. How do inspectors determine if it is indeed inert short of having an explosives expert examine it (and fuse), or perhaps just ask passengers to step into this special room and pull the pin...